{"title":"Exploring nursing students’ experiences of contemplating self-injury during their clinical practicums: A phenomenological study","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/j.nepr.2024.104137","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><h3>Aim</h3><p>To explore nursing students’ thoughts and feelings about self-injuring during their clinical practicums.</p></div><div><h3>Background</h3><p>Unfamiliar clinical environments pose challenges for nursing students, potentially leading to high levels of stress. When students find it difficult to cope with emotional triggers, some contemplate self-injury. Yet, it is rare to explore nursing students’ thoughts and feelings related to self-injury during their clinical practicums.</p></div><div><h3>Design</h3><p>A phenomenological approach was used.</p></div><div><h3>Methods</h3><p>Purposive sampling was used and the participants were drawn from nursing students who graduated from universities in Taiwan. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted from August to November 2023. Data saturation was reached after interviewing 15 participants. Colaizzi's seven steps and NVivo software were used for data analysis.</p></div><div><h3>Results</h3><p>Four themes and 14 subthemes emerged. They were: (1) Sensing an emotional crescendo: participants experienced anxieties about clinical educators, assignments, homework and the clinical practicums and these intensified across time. (2) Physical and mental dysregulation: participants experienced physical discomfort, psychological distress and negative thoughts when subjected to overwhelming pressures during their clinical practicums. (3) Unwholesome self-protective behaviors: participants expressed thoughts of self-injury, engaged in self-injurious behaviors, experienced suicidal ideations and attempted suicide as measures of relieving stress. (4) Compassionate self-protective behaviors: participants coped with stress through emotional voicing, modifying situations to adjust stress, reaching out for help, self-compassion and self-care.</p></div><div><h3>Conclusions</h3><p>Findings raise awareness of the need for clinical educators to demonstrate empathy with nursing students who have thoughts of self-injury during their clinical practicums. Further, it is crucial for them to offer timely guidance on the healing process while simultaneously creating nurturing clinical environments wherein students could flourish and grow.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":48715,"journal":{"name":"Nurse Education in Practice","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":3.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Nurse Education in Practice","FirstCategoryId":"3","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S147159532400266X","RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"NURSING","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Aim
To explore nursing students’ thoughts and feelings about self-injuring during their clinical practicums.
Background
Unfamiliar clinical environments pose challenges for nursing students, potentially leading to high levels of stress. When students find it difficult to cope with emotional triggers, some contemplate self-injury. Yet, it is rare to explore nursing students’ thoughts and feelings related to self-injury during their clinical practicums.
Design
A phenomenological approach was used.
Methods
Purposive sampling was used and the participants were drawn from nursing students who graduated from universities in Taiwan. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted from August to November 2023. Data saturation was reached after interviewing 15 participants. Colaizzi's seven steps and NVivo software were used for data analysis.
Results
Four themes and 14 subthemes emerged. They were: (1) Sensing an emotional crescendo: participants experienced anxieties about clinical educators, assignments, homework and the clinical practicums and these intensified across time. (2) Physical and mental dysregulation: participants experienced physical discomfort, psychological distress and negative thoughts when subjected to overwhelming pressures during their clinical practicums. (3) Unwholesome self-protective behaviors: participants expressed thoughts of self-injury, engaged in self-injurious behaviors, experienced suicidal ideations and attempted suicide as measures of relieving stress. (4) Compassionate self-protective behaviors: participants coped with stress through emotional voicing, modifying situations to adjust stress, reaching out for help, self-compassion and self-care.
Conclusions
Findings raise awareness of the need for clinical educators to demonstrate empathy with nursing students who have thoughts of self-injury during their clinical practicums. Further, it is crucial for them to offer timely guidance on the healing process while simultaneously creating nurturing clinical environments wherein students could flourish and grow.
期刊介绍：
Nurse Education in Practice enables lecturers and practitioners to both share and disseminate evidence that demonstrates the actual practice of education as it is experienced in the realities of their respective work environments. It is supportive of new authors and will be at the forefront in publishing individual and collaborative papers that demonstrate the link between education and practice.
京公网安备 11010802042870号
京ICP备2023020795号-1
分享
求助内容：
应助结果提醒方式：
扫码关注我们
